Fair-leader for ropes



UNITEDV STATES PATENTA OFFICE.

JOHN W. sHARRETT, OF PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA.

FAIR-LEADER FOR ROPES, sw.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.. 248,061, dated October 11, lBl.

' ApplicationledInne10,1881. (omodel.) A

vIo

To all whom 'it may concern: f

Beit known that I, JOHN W. SHARRETT, of Portsmouth, iu the county ofNorfolk andState of Virginia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fair-Leaders for the Ropes and, Chains of Ships and other Vessels; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof', reference being: had to the accompanying drawings and letterst of reference marked thereon, forming a part of this my specilication ofsaid invention.

Like letters in the several figures indicate .the same parts. ,I

Sheaves are ordinaril y used as fair-leaders for ropes and chains on board of vessels; but when the rope or chain, in passing through a sheave, becomes twisted or skewed f' thc sheave then becomes to a greater or less extent useless as a fair-leader for the same, owing to the binding action of the rope or chain thereon.

The object of my invention is the production of a fair-leader upon which a rope or chain will not bind in the act of passing through it, whatever direction the rope or chain mayhave when in Contact therewith; and practically, I intend to utilize it in place of the ordinary hawse-pipe of water-craft, also in connection with the dredge-postsot vessels, the rail-ebooks of vessels, the quarter-chocks ot' vessels, the deck bulls-eye and deck-eyebolts of vessels, and also in connection with the top-sail sheetblock of vessels. In fact, lr intend to apply my improved fair-leader for ropes and chains wherever the same can be. advantageously used on ships and other water-craft, and I herein present a few examples of its application.

Figure l ofthe drawings is a view in elevation of my improved fair-leader applied in the night-heads of a vessel in lieu of the ordinary hawse-pipe, and Fig. 2 is a central vertical section of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view in eleva` tion of a dredge-post used on board of dredging-vessels and having my improvedfair-leader applied thereto. i Fig. 4 is a view in elevation of a rail-chock of a vessel having my said improvement applied thereto, and Fig. 5 shows in elevation a deckbulls-eyc constructed with said improvement.

Having reference to Figs. 1 and 2, A indicates a portion ofthe bow, or that part of a vessel in which a hawse-pipe is ordinarily applied,

the timber being cutaway so as to form a proper opening, C, through the same, and with angular projecting portions or cliocks, as at @,which are integral with or form a connected portion of the wood-work ofthe vessel. At a in these figures I show one of the chocks formed separately from the wood-work A and applied to said wood-work by means of a bolt, as shown. It may, however, be secured in place in any 6o other suitable manner.

B indicatesastrong round metallic bar, which is made to pass through the chocks a. and a', as shown, which bar is so formed as to constitute at portions b of its length suitable axial bearin gs for a series of fair-leading metal rolls, B', which are made to occupy the spaces between the said chocks, as shown. These fairleading rolls are formed to freely turn or rotate upon the axial portions b of the bar B, 7o and said bar being bent, as shown, at those portions which pass through the chocksa, is prevented from moving longitudinally in its bearings within said chocks, and thus the rolls B always maintain their proper working position. The rolls Bf, asl clearly shown in Fig. 2, are on each side formed with a concavity, as at e, and with a sloping interior annular face, e', so that when said rolls are placed upon their axial bar B, as shown in the several igures, 8o the face e ot' one roll will overlap a portion of the periphery of the next adjoining` roll, vas shown in Figs. 1,2, and 5, or, as in Figs?) and 4, one roll may be, overlapped by the two next adjoining rolls, and in this manner said rolls may be made to always present a rolling Working-surface, against which a rope or chain may impinge inpassing through the central aperture, C.

In Fig. 3, A indicates a dredge-post with 9o my fair-leader device applied thereto in the general form of a half-circle. In this iigure,B

' indicates aroundl metal bar in somewhat the form ot' a haltcircle, and with its ends let into the dredge-post and secured therein in any proper manner. The post itself is cutaway in half-circle form, so as to allow the fair-leader rolls B' to be applied upon the metal bar B and freely articulate or rotate thereon, and with the annular face e ot'w one roll either overlaploo ping or underlapping a portion ofthe next adjoining roll or rolls, as shown. l

In Fig. 4, D indicate n portion of a rail of n vessel with a rail-chock, A2, thereon, but having portions of it broken away, as signified by the figure. In this case, as in Fig.3, the metal barB has its ends secured in the wood-Work of the rail-chock in any proper manner, and the fair-rolls B are axially applied thereon in the same manner as shown in Figs.'2 and 3, while, as in Fig. 3, the rail-chock is provided with guard-plates F io properly house and protect the rolls.

In Fig. 5 I represent my invention as subserving the purpose of a deck bulls-eye, G, secured to the deck g ot' a vessel, und in this instance of the application of myinvention the fair-leading rolls B have a portion of their perimeters either overlappingr or nnderlupping a portion o f the perimeters of the next adjoiuing rolls, the sume as shown in Figs. l and 2. In this manner,in each of the instances or conditions shown in the several igures n rolling or rotary moving surface will be presented to a rope or chain when applied in connection with said devices, as it is customary to use a rope or chain in connection with the devices bination with acirculnrly formed or curvedv bnr, B, provided with axial bearings b, whereby when a series of rolls, B', are in position upon said bearings n portion of one of the rolls will overlap or bc overlapped by n portion of an adjoining; roll,snbstnnlially ns and for the purpose described.

Signed in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN IV. SHARRETT. Witnesses:

WILKEs A. Woon, JOHN H. BROWN. 

